The Death House sat upon the edge of the dark forest. The exterior looked dilapidated and eerie, but the interior looked well maintained. It looked as if a well-to-do aristocratic family lived there. The wailing of a crying baby could be heard coming from up the grand staircase, and odd sounds of movement could be heard deeper within the house.
One of the first challenges of this cold and frightening place was to solve the mystery of the House of Death. A wealthy Aristocratic family, the Durst family, once owned this tall, narrow manor house and accompanying land. Some horrible events took place in this cursed building. Gustav Durst was involved in dark occult blood rituals and several people met their end in this house and at his hand.
Several creatures of the afterworld were encountered in this place. The terrifying ghost of the House Maid who tried to steal their very souls; the strange fossil of the stillborn Walter whom could be heard wailing throughout the house; animated suits of armor that attacked ferociously; the curious and creepy ghosts of the Durst children - Rose and Thorn, who wanted the group to play with them for all eternity; and more.
In the end, the heroes defeated the undead Dursts and their minions as well as the dark creature known as Lorgoth the Decayer. They fled the house and had to pass through doorways filled with chomping steel teeth, and a burning building to escape from the Death House. But escape they did, and somberly moved on to the village of Barovia.
PEOPLE
Rose - Rosvalda Durst is a ghost encountered in the barn of the Durst family holdings. She spoke of a monster in the basement of her house who she and her younger brother were hiding from. She mentioned that she had left her baby brother Walter in the house when they fled. It's uncertain what her motives were - to defeat the monster within or to lure us in to our doom. It was neither. We encountered her spirit within the house and she temporarily possessed Uphir. When her remains were properly interred in their tomb, her spirit departed.
Thorn - Like his older sister Rose, Thornboldt Durst is some manner of ghost or spirit that seems to reside in the barn across the road from the Durst Manor. He did not speak during the encounters with him, but he did sob and seem afraid. Even after the spirits vanished, Thorn's sobbing disembodied voice could be heard on the wind. We encounterd Thorn's ghost within the house and he possessed Akkiir for a short time. We saved the soul of this child by properly interring his body in it's crypt.
Walter - Not much is known about Walter, other than he is the baby brother of Rose and Thorn. He was left behind in the haunted Durst house and his enfant crying and wailing can be heard near and within the house proper. When they finally encountered the nursery, the almost fossilized stillborn fetus was found in the crib. It shivered through some supernatural force and stopped its wailing when removed from nursery.
Skennis - He was the unseen voice that Uphir communicated with in the forest around the Durst's barn. He has strange powers of control over the ever present wolves which haunt this land. He plays a fair flute, and it was proven that he is a shapeshifter - an actual werewolf. They learned some about this land from him on that dark, mist filled night. Ultimately Skennis was defeated by the heroes in the high passes of the mountains when he and his pack tried to stop the group from passing through.
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